Making Friends
by Kitamasu1
Summary: The story of Akira Tokugawa, a 10 year old boy who moves to Johto with his family. What Pokémon will he meet, what adventures will he go on, and what friends will he make?


It was a warm spring day in most parts of Johto. There were clouds in the sky, a light rain falling to the earth, and the sweet scent of flowers drifted on the gentle breeze. Today was a day like many others with one exception; there was a new family moving into New Bark Town. In such a tight-knit community not much happens without everyone knowing about it sooner rather than later. When the only house for sale was bought by a family from Kanto, there was much to say. Who would these people be? Were they nice? What skills would they bring to the community? What employment were they seeking? Perhaps most importantly was what Pokemon they would bring. Many Pokemon from Kanto haven't been seen in most parts of Johto, except those brought by traveling trainers.

It just so happened that the man of the family, whose name was Toshiro Tokugawa, was moving to study under Professor Elm. Professor Elm was an expert when it came to pokemon genetics. His new research looked to more fully understand the genetic changes of modern pokemon from those of days far gone. Toshiro was quite the pokemon breeder, but his time as an archaeologist and his unparalleled knowledge of ancient pokemon is what secured this career change. Toshiro, and his wife Sakiko had a young ten year old son named Akira. He had recently graduated from trainer school in Kanto and had just received his trainer's license the week before they were set to move. He yearned to explore the world, meet new Pokemon, and make new friends.

Toshiro took his family to meet Professor Elm the day they arrived. "Welcome to my laboratory. Please don't mind the mess. I'm a little disorganized. Hahaha". A middle aged man, in his fifties, scratched the back of his head a bit, but then extended a hand and shook his new employee's hand. "I'm glad to have you on the team, Toshiro. You have quite a lovely family." Professor Elm pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and then looked to the boy.

"Do you have a pokemon, son?" Akira shook his head. He never had the chance to catch his first pokemon back home. "I wish I had a pokemon I could give you, but I just gave a group of youngsters their first pokemon. I could let you borrow one though to catch your first pokemon." Akira smiled, but shook his head. "No thank you, professor. I'd like to catch my first pokemon on my own." Professor Elm simply smiled. That type of determination was rare these days; the boy was stubborn, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was certainly admirable.

"Well, Professor Elm, I think we should get home and unpack. I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early!" Professor Elm chuckled a little bit, "You'll probably find me asleep at my desk." Akira and his parents went home, unpacked for several hours, and before they knew it bedtime had arrived. Akira had spoken to his parents when they were in their old home that he wanted to explore the world, battle gyms, and become a Pokemon Master. They were every bit of encouraging as they could be, and they were certainly going to miss their young boy.

Morning arrived and Akira was the first to wake. His parents woke up to the smell of bacon sizzling and eggs frying. "What's the special occasion, dear?", his mother said. "It's the first day of my adventure mother! I thought I'd show my appreciation for you allowing me to go on this journey." Akira smiled brightly, his excitement was hard to contain. He already had his first day planned out; the only difference was it was raining. He had hoped the rain would die off for today, but instead it seemed to only get worse.

Akira packed everything he could think of, and when he was ready he gave his mother a hug. "I'm out of here, mom. Let Dad know I'll miss you guys." She smiled, "I will Akira, I will." She embraced her son tighter, and truthfully didn't want to let go. She'd miss her boy, but it was time for him to walk on his own two legs. Akira was at the edge of town and looked back. "I know I don't know much about you, but I'm gonna miss my new home." A small tear rolled down his cheek, which he quickly brushed away. "Off to adventure!", and with that he set foot onto route 29, destined for Cherrygrove City.

It was noon before Akira reached the crossroads of route 46. He hadn't seen a single Pokémon his entire time in the forest. They must have been hiding from the rain. It certainly had started raining. Akira decided that he would take a short break and visit the cliffs of route 46. He settled himself under a tree, leaned back, and looked around. They weren't exactly what he expected, but he certainly couldn't climb them. This part of the cliffs were about 20 feet tall.

It was during his examination of the cliff face that he heard a commotion in the brush. It was a pokemon! Akira quickly got to his feet and ran into the brush. Finally, his first chance to catch a pokemon! What he encountered was nothing of what he expected. Two geodude were a short distance away, but something seemed wrong. One geodude, a bigger one was yelling at the smaller one.

In a flash the big geodude threw the smaller one against the cliffs and charged, smashing into it. Something must have really ticked it off. The battle was short, but the small geodude never fought back. Akira felt incredibly bad for it. Running out into the open, Akira attempted to stop them, "Hey, knock it off you big bully!" The big geodude looked at Akira, glared, and then charged him.

Akira didn't expect to get attacked by a pokemon! Taking the hit in his chest he was quickly knocked to the ground. The small geodude glanced in his direction with a pained expression. It wondered why a human would interfere on his behalf. Akira grimaced in pain, getting to his feet and looking at the big geodude. "You leave him alone!", he shouted through gritted teeth.

The big geodude growled, and Akira thought he would be charged again. After a short time, the geodude fled. Pokémon weren't inherently aggressive to people, at least not under normal circumstances. Akira looked over to the small geodude, and it hadn't moved. It was probably in too much pain to move. Walking over to it, Akira reached down to touch it. The geodude recoiled in fear of being assaulted again, "Hey, buddy, you don't have to worry. I just want to help you.". With a short stroke the geodude relaxed a bit.

"You need to go to a pokemon center. Nurse Joy can get you back up and moving." Akira attempted to pick the geodude up, grunting and muscles straining he just barely lifted the geodude off the ground. "Ok, bud. There's no way I can carry you." The geodude looked at him, not quite understanding what the boy thought he could achieve.

Akira looked down at his belt. He had a few pokeballs. "Geodude, if you want, I can get you help." He reached down, and grabbed a pokeball. The geodude flinched, but it couldn't get away. Akira looked at the ball, pressed the button to expand it, and then simply set it down. "I won't force you to go." The geodude looked at Akira, having expected to be captured but was actually being given a choice. "I'd like to help you, be your friend. If you'd like that."

The geodude looked to the pokeball on the ground. With all of it's energy it rolled slightly and nudged the pokeball. With a flash of red light the geodude entered into the now open pokeball, and with a click the pokeball shut. The pokeball issued a single noise, a confirmation of capture. Akira quickly picked up the pokeball gathered his things from around the tree and began running back to route 29. The rain was still falling, but Akira didn't seem to mind anymore. The only thing that mattered was the geodude.

An hour later Akira arrived in Cherrygrove City and ran directly for the pokemon center. Nurse Joy was shocked at the condition of the geodude, but after hearing the story of the battle she understood. It was most likely a show of dominance, perhaps a female geodude was involved. It was evening before Nurse Joy came back with Akira's pokeball.

"Your geodude will be just fine! Don't let it battle for at least a day. You did the right thing bringing it here." She smiled and handed the pokeball to Akira. Akira pressed the button in the center of the pokeball, "Come on our geodude!" With a flash of red light the pokemon emerged from the pokeball.

"How would you like to come with me on my journey, geodude?" The geodude thought on it, and then smiled and hopped up onto his lap. "You'll need a name; how about Iron?" The geodude glanced at him, and shock it's head. "What about Cobalt?" The geodude thought on it, and then started bouncing around the floor, apparently cheering. "Well Cobalt, I guess we should get some dinner." The geodude uttered a little gurgle, and nodded.

Akira had a small amount of pokemon food, and he had his supper packed from this morning. They had a quick meal, and then went off to sleep on one of the benches in the pokemon center. Akira dreamed of the events of the day, and smiled in his sleep. He couldn't wait for what would surely be an epic adventure.


End file.
